“I started singing at an ungodly age, standing in my crib and warbling at passing family members. I didn’t really think of it as a career until I went to the School of Science and Math and realized that I never wanted to do another algorithm. So I went to Oberlin Conservatory and did the whole opera/recital thing, burned out and discovered the banjo! The rest is history.”
Rhiannon Giddens
Singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens is the co-founder of the GRAMMY Award–winning American string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, in which she also played banjo and fiddle. She began gaining recognition as a solo artist when she stole the show at the T Bone Burnett–produced Another Day, Another Time concert at New York City’s Town Hall in 2013. She sang Odetta’s Water Boy with, as the New York Times put it, “the fervour of a spiritual, the yips of a folk holler, and the sultry insinuation of the blues.”
It was T Bone who convinced Rhiannon to free her voice and become a solo artist.
The elegant bearing, prodigious voice, and fierce spirit that brought the NYC audience to its feet that night, and audiences around the world since, was also abundantly evident on Giddens’ Grammy-nominated solo debut album, “Tomorrow Is My Turn”.
The recording masterfully blends American genres like gospel, jazz, blues, and country, showcasing her extraordinary emotional range and dazzling vocal prowess. She since followed that success with “Freedom Highway”, produced by T Bone Burnett. A record that traces the power of African-American song from 200 years ago to today.
It has become abundantly clear that Rhiannon Giddens was to take her place as a peerless and powerful voice in roots music, and her appearance at the festival was to be eagerly, enthusiastically, breathlessly anticipated.
“What was on display tonight was the performance of an artist on the cusp of a true critical and commercial breakthrough with a voice that was regal, confident and, at every turn, breathtaking.” -The Musical Box
A founding member of the landmark string band Carolina Chocolate Drops, and the all-female banjo supergroup, Our Native Daughters, Giddens is as much a curator as a creator. She is the current Artistic Director of the Yo-Yo Ma-founded Silkroad Ensemble, hosts a TV show on PBS, My Music with Rhiannon Giddens, and has hosted two podcasts (Aria Code from New York City’s NPR affiliate station WQXR, which ran for three seasons, and American Railroad from Silkroad). Rhiannon Giddens has published two children’s books and written and performed music for the soundtrack of Red Dead Redemption II, one of the best-selling video games of all time. She appeared as a recurring cast member on ABC’s hit drama Nashville and as a music history expert on Ken Burns’ Country Music series on PBS. This year, she launched her own music festival in Durham, NC called Biscuits & Banjos, to celebrate Black culture outside the mainstream.
Rhiannon’s last two albums were
You’re the One
What did the blackbird say to the crow
and we await the latest album, Hope is the Thing with Feathers, coming out in Mid-September.
These two interviews were done several years apart in the CKUA performance tent at the Edmonton Folk Festival.
We thank them for the opportunity and Rhiannon for the time.
We kick off your Saturday night with a birthday greeting to the human time piece and stellar showman called Mick Jagger. He’s 83.
Happy 83rd Birthday to Mick Jagger
Hour one donor – Geoff – remembers his son Bo and the days and nights Bo and friends spent at many years of Edmonton Folk Festival
We played some of Bo’s Festival favourites
Corb Lund, Gord Lightfoot – Old Dan’s Records. To honour Bo’s Great Uncle Dan (Daniel Glenwood Key) who was a recording technician for CKUA from the late 50’s to the early 70’s.
Also prime Beatles and Elvis go one-on-one with Big Mama Thornton. .
Allison Russell, Keb Mo, John Lee Hooker & Ry Cooder, Taj Mahal, Lucinda Williams, Tedeschi Trucks, Leo Kottke.
A quick review of several festivals over the next few days
Monkey Junk – Blue Rodeo at Salmon Arm
Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts at Filberg Festival Comox.
Bob Dylan and Butterfield Blues Band at historic Newport Folk Festival. (Took place July 25 1965)
AND
Honeybear the band
We debut The Cure, a new album from the wonderfully surprising Honeybear the band. (Vancouver)
A delicious mix of R&B, gospel, soul, early rock roots, Bobby Womack, Slim Harpo, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino. Not covers, my friends. Original songs they’ve written and brought to the stage.
Joining us to tell those Honeybear stories is co-founder, co-writer, vocals andguitar Colin Brumelle. Some of the stories are actually true.
Tour Dates:
July 30/31 Edmonton Double Dragon (may be sold out)
Aug 1 Calgary The Confluence
Aug 2 Red Deer – Bo’s Bar and Stage
Aug 4 Ottawa
Aug 5 Montreal
Aug 6 Kingston
Aug 7 Toronto
Aug 8 Kitchener
Aug 9 West Van Harmony Arts
Sept 9 Victoria Upstairs
Sept 10 Vancouver Hollywood Theatre
Podcast is Rhiannon Giddens. Two interviews from Edmonton Folk Festivals.
Truck Driver Elvis Presley walked into Sun Records in Memphis and paid $3.98 to record two songs as a gift to his Mother.
A year later, on July 19, he was back at Sun Records, recording That’s All Right and rock and roll was born.
Sun Records- That’s Alright- Elvis
July 18 1973, a yet-to-be-discovered Bruce Springsteen played four nights at Max’s Kansas City in NYC.
Opening for Bruce was the undiscovered Bob Marley and the Wailers on their first North American Tour. They took turns opening for each other. Can you imagine???
We’ll help by playing Bruce, Bob and Elvis.
Wailers ‘Eclipse’ Springsteen at Max’s Kansas City, NYC 1973
New music from
Dion & Paul Simon
Jesse Wells and Mt Joy
Second Hand Dream Car
Honey Bear, The Band
I’m with Her
Mumford and Sons
Allison Russell and Ruby Amanfu
Trampled by Turtles and Jeff Tweedy
Ruthie Foster
St Paul and the Broken Bones
Jesper Lindell and Frazey Ford
The Rolling Stones.
Leeroy Stagger
Classics from
Led Zeppelin
Wilson Pickett
Mike Farris
Linda Ronstadt
Paul Simon Live in Central Park
Screaming Jay Hawkins
And Lonnie Mack
Two hours of hand-picked – fully lived-in – music. Memories included!!
An artist who blends Americana, folk, gospel, soul, and blues to create something she calls “organic moonshine roots music,” June grew up in western Tennessee, a part of the world where different musical traditions meet, something that is reflected in her special sound. She was raised in a musical family where everybody sang.
She is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who plays banjo, guitar, and ukulele. She’s also an author, a poet, and a certified mindfulness instructor who sees joy as something fierce, powerful, and radical—a form of resistance. She told The NewYorker, “I’m basically an ambassador for joy, and people are oftentimes like, ‘That’s so fake, you’re bypassing shit.’ But that’s not my truth. My truth is understanding the darkness and understanding the night and the hard times and choosing to be in a place of joy.”
“Valerie June has built a devoted following by ignoring expectations. She is simultaneously
rural and cosmopolitan, historically minded and contemporary, idiosyncratic and fashionable, mystical and down-to-earth.” — New York Times
Valerie June
She’s playing some great shows and festivals, making stops:
July 16 – Toronto, ON – TD Music Hall
July 17 – Ottawa, ON – Ottawa Bluesfest
July 19 – Vancouver, BC – Vancouver Folk
July 22 – Edmonton, AB – Horowitz Theatre
July 23 – Calgary, AB – Calgary Folk
Valerie June-Owls, Omens and Oracles
Valerie’s critically acclaimed sixth studio album, Owls, Omens and Oracles, came out last summer on Concord Records. It was produced by M Ward and included one of the best songs of 2025, “Joy Joy”!
“Getting the courage to do something small
Lifting the spirits of all that you saw
Feeling the tiniest spark in your heart
Only an ember can light up the dark
Are you ready to see
A world where we could all be free
As branches of an endless tree?”
One of a kind and driven by writing songs of truth and justice.
We welcome John Skinner (Co-founder) and LaurenSkinner, managing director of Painted Rock (Skaha).
Painted Rock is a family winery.
From Day One, it was John and Trish Skinner following their dreams of making world-class wines. Up on Skaha Bench in the Okanagan Falls area. Then came Valeria Tait, with her wine-making smarts, suggesting where to plant the vineyards and how to lay the rows out. (John speaks of this )
Since its first vintage in 2009, Painted Rock has been making the world-class wines they dreamed about, led by a sensational Bordeaux blend called Red Icon. In 2020, it was named one of Decanter Magazine’s Wines of the Year.
John Skinner
“When we set out to build a generational family winery from the ground up, we had one simple goal in mind: to craft the highest quality wines from our estate vineyard and help raise the profile of Canadian wine on the world stage. It has been over 20 years since this journey began, and we couldn’t be prouder of how far we’ve come.”
The Skinner Family
Following 15 years of sales and marketing at the winery, Lauren Skinner Buksevics is now the managing director of Painted Rock Estate and has been asked to guide the family legacy.
She is also on the Board of Directors for Wine Growers of BC. Here’s a recent post:
“Our wineries create jobs, drive tourism, support agriculture, and contribute to rural economies across British Columbia. With the right policies and partnership, we can do even more.”
Lauren also states, “We seek a true national wine market where every region can buy the others.”
“Canada’s wine industry already contributes 10 billion dollars to our economy. Imagine if we could unlock our full potential”
John and Lauren Skinner take us through the following new releases from Painted Rock
Estate Winery
Trish, John and Lauren Skinner
2025 Rose Notes of citrus and strawberry, herbs, cranberry
71% Syrah, 15% Malbec, 9% Petit Verdot, 5% Cab Franc
Created through direct press.
2025 Chardonnay 80% French 20% Malo
Wonderful tropical notes and acidity/minerality ( 3 cases left)
2023 Syrah
Much smaller harvest .18 months in new French and American oak.
2022 Red Icon
Dark berries, spice, glorious finish. 49% Merlot, 11% Syrah 16% Cab %12 Malbec 9% Petit Verdot 3% Cab Franc.
World Class Winemaking.
(Currently pouring in the tasting room: 2022 Merlot, Malbec, Cab Frank 2021 Red Icon)
Let me leave you with another Lauren Skinner Buksevics comment
“Wine-loving Canadians across the country will see these wines featured and recommended… then discover they cannot find many of them on shelves or legally order them to their homes. Meanwhile, when international wines receive the same attention, they are already sitting on shelves across Canada because imported wines move through our domestic market more easily than Canadian wines do.”
The first hour celebrates the birth of Doc Pomus, one of the all-time great songwriters who helped shape popular music.
He wrote hits for The Drifters, Ray Charles, Elvis and many more.
We start with Lonely Ave (Ray Charles), Young Boy Blues (Robert Plant and The Honey Drippers), A Mess of blues (Elvis), and a song Doc Pomus wrote to his bride at their wedding reception, and because he was in a wheelchair, due to polio, he wrote Save the Last Dance for me (The Drifters)
Classics from Rickie Lee Jones and Otis Redding. New music from Joe Bonamassa, Second-Hand Dream Car./
Hour Two donor asked for “kick-ass” Canadian female singers from the mid-80s to mid-90’s.
We start with Heart Live at Kennedy Centre Honours and Stairway to Heaven for honorees Led Zeppelin.
Joni Live, k.d.lang, Alanis Morissette, Susan Aglukark, Jann Arden, and Janis Joplin Live at McMann Stadium for the Festival Express.
And finally, an Ian Hunter Song for a listener in Scotland.
Happy Canada Day !!!!
Mulligan Stew HOUR ONE (A)
Terry Mulligan
CKUA
save the last dance for me
The Drifters
Save the last dance for me
Lonely Avenue
Ray Charles
Yes Indeed
Young boy blues
Robert Plant and Honeydrippers
Honey Drippers Vol 1
A mess of blues
Elvis Presley
Elvis Gold Records
Mulligan Stew Hour One
TDMulligan
-Year 30
Treat her Right (live)
Joe Bonamassa
Spirit of Rory
My hometown
Nathaniel Rateliff
Lovers
The Stew – TDM
Next – The Highwomen
-Live
Always on my mind (live)
The Highwomen
Live from The Gorge
Deane House
River Cafe
Mulligan Stew
Save your soul
Kathleen Edwards
Billionaire
Weasle and the white boy cool
Rickie Lee Jones
Rickie Lee Jones
Dock of the Bay
Otis Redding
Best of
The Summer Stew Hour One
Terry David Mulligan
Year 30
eight of spades
Second hand dream car
eight of spades
Hour One of The Summer Stew
CKUA Radio
-Donor Supported
Bird on a Wire (live)
Tedeschi Trucks Band (Rita Coolidge and Doyle Bramhall)